Enzymes of isolated brush border membrane of Cotugnia digonopora, and their insensitivity to anthelmintics in vitro.

Purified brush border membrane of Cotugnia digonopora showed the presence of a number of phosphohydrolases. Among these, alkaline phosphatase was extremely active. Other enzymes such as glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, cAMP-phosphodiesterase, 5'-nucleotidase and adenosine-triphosphatase were also active. Observations were made on the activities of various ATPases; whereas the enzyme was activated by Ca++ and Mg++ in an additive manner, its sensitivity to ouabain was negligible. Furthermore, in the presence of EDTA the enzyme activity was quite significant. The treatment of isolated brush border membrane with mebendazole, niclosamide and praziquantel in vitro did not alter the activity of these enzymes. However, treatment of intact worms drastically affected the integrity of the membrane.